Social Media

This Is the Most Overlooked Way to Get Press at SXSW

Josh Jones Dilworth is the founder and CEO of Totem, the press page company. Totem lets anyone build a simple and elegant press page in five minutes.

Every year around this time, I get asked by startups old and new, "How can I stand out to the press at SXSW? How can I make the press pay attention to me and my company?"

At SXSW, sophisticated strategies and creative shenanigans abound to gain press attention. If your launch or campaign uniquely matches the scope and tenor of the festival itself, you can thrive. You might even get a little lucky. With 25,000 geeks in Austin for what feels like a twisted combination of Burning Man and summer camp, anything is possible.

That said, the number-one piece of advice I give is seldom acted upon. So what’s the big secret already?

A press page. Not merely a press page, but a great one. My company recently undertook a broad survey of the press, asking them whether they care about a website's press page in the first place, and if so, what they would like to see in one. The overwhelming response of over 100 journalists was that not only is a press page welcome, it can make all the difference.

The press, analysts and influencers are often your earliest audiences, and arguably your most powerful ones. Yet, the majority of startups and mature companies alike do very little to make life easy for those writing stories or conducting research.

Why this the case?

First, the press page often gets triaged away – it’s on the list, but rarely gets prioritized. Product comes first, the basic website second, and social media excellence third. Sometimes a company cobbles a press page together in the last minutes before launch – it likely houses little more than a few logos and a blind email for a PR contact.

Often, a press page gets stranded in the vacant middle ground between product and marketing. It seldom has a proper owner. PR people and marketers often have to work through a middleman, and sometimes through broad swaths of bureaucracy. On the other hand, designers and builders seldom understand what it takes to make a great press page.

Without further adieu, consider making a press page to support a launch or campaign at SXSW. Here are a few tips culled from the press themselves.

1. Put a Human Contact Front and Center

The press absolutely and emphatically want a real person to contact. Most press pages default to an “info@” or a “press@” alias for reasons of convenience – you want inquiries to go to multiple parties for redundancy’s sake. This makes sense on paper, but if you’re trying to make the press love you, surfacing a human will win you favor. If you’re worried about redundancy, list more than one individual.

Furthermore, whether he works for you or an agency that represents you, your press contact should be available via email, phone (preferably cellphone), Skype (or other instant messaging client) and Twitter. Many press representatives have different contact preferences, but my company's survey indicates the more options the better, especially when there’s an urgent request or breaking news.

Lastly, this contact should have a real headshot attached alongside contact information. Facial recognition for in-person meetings is especially important during conferences like SXSW.

2. No One Wants Sloppy Seconds

Another common mistake is thinking about your press page as a repository for past press coverage, with little other helpful information or material.

What does this communicate? It says that you care more about showcasing results than earning more. The press told us outright that, although past coverage is helpful for context, it’s not the first thing they want or need to see, and can sometimes be discouraging.

This doesn’t at all mean that you shouldn’t showcase your coverage or awkwardly hide it away. But it should sit below the fold, or maintain a low profile.

If you really want to impress investors or potential users by showcasing credible articles, consider featuring press on the company homepage with an “as featured in” element.

If someone has made his way to your press page, he's digging deeper, and is possibly looking for help. Use the press page to serve its primary audience: the press. Include the publication logo that links to your big review or launch coverage in a prominent place, especially if you intend it to increase conversion.

3. Commandeer the “About” and the “Team” Pages

My company's survey also revealed that the press dislikes having to bounce all around your site, picking up disparate pieces of information for their articles.

Do reporters a favor: Gather key company information, team bios and product specs from other areas of your site onto the press page too. Include supplementary information like physical address, number of employees, funding status, social profiles, etc. This might seem redundant, but again, your efforts are all in service of the press, so be extra helpful.

The overall goal of the press page is to make it an effective home base for someone covering your company — a full service buffet of sorts. The press emphasize to my company time and time again that business websites make it surprisingly hard to track down the basics.

Go the extra yard so the press doesn't have to. Reporters told us that a well-organized company with a truly useful press page makes a better and lasting impression.

4. Art, Art, Art

You spent a lot of time on your logo, didn’t you? And yet, you might be making it much harder for others to use it than you realize.

Take a look around the web — you’ll see grainy logos and sloppy logo screengrabs galore. The press is sick of browsing Google image search, desperately seeking good art. And guess what? Once that low-res logo gets sucked into their CMS the first time, it sits in their multimedia repository for future use. That bad or outdated logo can haunt you for years.

Logos are just the beginning, of course. Publications seek pretty charts and graphs, infographics, screenshots, live action photography, headshots, team shots and product photos too.

Video is in high demand too, whether a basic tutorial screencast or a full-fledged animated explainer. These videos keep readers on the press’ articles longer, and increase conversion via click-throughs to your site. Videos are a win-win and are well worth the time, effort and money.

I always tell clients and advisees, “A Mashable article is not a Mashable article is not a Mashable article.” Just getting in Mashable doesn’t magically generate credibility and visibility. Make great art accessible — it can mean the difference between a good article and a great one, between hundreds of users and thousands.

5. Data and Empirical Evidence

Few publications enjoy an art department these days, and even fewer have the luxury of a researcher. Some beat reporters are especially comfortable covering your market or company, but many newer reporters are just learning. And in the most innovative areas of the industry, no one is an expert yet. These days, journalists go it alone; therefore, they welcome all the help they can get.

We marketers are prone to making grand claims; it’s not a stretch to say that most startups' market sizing slides tell embellished versions of the truth.

One of the biggest favors you can do for the press is to provide as much real data and empirical evidence as possible. This might include statistically significant surveys you’ve conducted, market research put forth by a reputable analyst, recent user counts, engagement measures and more.

You will earn the respect of the press by providing factual, contextual information. Often this information underwrites the very reasons your company exists in the first place, so you shouldn’t be afraid of getting real. Editors require factual information and verified statistics for articles. If you can go the extra mile, the resulting coverage won’t hinge on merely anecdotal claims. Facts are the very best flavor of Kool-Aid.

SXSW: Harried and Hungover

Of course, there are more sophisticated things you can do between now and SXSW, but I urge you to start getting your house in order in the most basic way.

During SXSW, the press is as harried as the startups and brands it covers, if not more so. Attention is sparse, and articles need to be published with urgency. If you’re gunning to be part of the SXSW conversation, a great press page can render your story plug-and-play, and can free you from too many press follow-ups.

So do yourself a favor, and the press one too. By streamlining the press process, we can focus on what’s most important – great companies, leading technologists and a fine brew or two.

What's Hot

More in Social Media

What's New

What's Rising

What's Hot

Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.